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Two blocks from home a young woman cheerfully waved at me to cross the street, calling “Mama! Mama! Come here, Mama!” I wasn’t her mama but I was curious, so I crossed the street, at which point she gestured to a small car with two enormous plastic-wrapped rolled rugs sticking out of the trunk and windows and said “Please mama, help. God bless you, mama.”

This was fascinating, because she was half my age, twice my size, and by all appearances completely strong and healthy, but I decided to roll with it. I heaved the first rug out of the trunk/window and dragged it with difficulty and zero help across the long curved drive into her apartment building, then repeated the process with the second rug. At which point the young woman gestured happily for me to follow her down the hallway with the rugs: “Thank you mama! God bless you mama!”

Still fascinated (maybe because I can’t imagine myself ever being so bold), I ended up heaving both rugs down the hallway and into her apartment, where I propped them against the wall of her living room and then, despite her blessings and pleas, left without unwrapping and arranging them for her. And what this anecdote has to do with today’s poem of the week, I’m not sure, other than it falls into the categories of Life is interesting and mystifying and Some people have no qualms asking for exactly what they want and My back hurts now and Sometimes I just feel like saying yes.

God Says Yes To Me, by Kaylin Haught

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don’t paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I’m telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

Click here for more information on Illinois poet Kaylin Haught. This poem first appeared here in 2016.

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